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c ~^r ? egion Roundup Braselton Ends Year With Lots Of Red Ink Owing to capital expenses relat ed to building new city facilities, the Town of Braselton ended its 2007 fiscal year in the red by $2.7 million, according to a recently released audit. But the city had accrued a surplus of funds from previous years and finished FY07 with a positive general fund bal ance of $2.4 million. The town’s fiscal year ended June 30. But the most dramatic numbers in the budget was a large drop in some areas of city income, most ly related to a slowing economy that generated less fee and ser vice charge revenues. Increased sales tax income offset much of that drop, however. Total general fund revenue to the town was $4.1 million with expenses of $6.9 million, leav ing the $2.7 in negative income. However, capital expenditures accounted for $3.9 million of the city’s expenses in FY07. That was mostly related to the construc tion and furnishing of new town governmental facilities. “All in all, the town’s financials remained solid despite a weak economy,’’ said the audit. Town manager Jennifer Scott also pointed out that the town’s tax digest had grown by 22 per cent and that the town’s assets had grown by 13 percent. WATER FUND In the town’s water and sewer fund, Braselton finished FY07 with an operating net income of $1.4 million. That was due to higher water rates because of the drought and to a growing num ber of customers on the city’s water/sewer system. Braselton Woman Wins $1 Million In GA Lottery Braselton’s Valerie Crawford is starting the New Year with some extra cash in her pocket — in fact, it’s $1 million. Crawford, 25, won $1 million playing the Georgia Lottery’s Holiday Millionaire Raffle. She was one of four people who purchased a $1 million ticket in the game. “I don’t play the lottery that often,’’ Crawford said. “But last year I did buy tickets with some family members.’’ Those tickets — through the Holiday Millionaire Raffle — didn’t win anything, but 2008 would bring new fortune for Crawford. It was the purchase of a single lottery ticket at a Circle K store in Winder that proved to be the winner. Crawford’s brother-in-law and mother had purchased their tickets at the Athens Street store just before her. On New Year’s Eve during a phone conservation with her older sister, Crawford checked the numbers on her lottery tick et. “Oh, my gosh, I think I’m a win ner,’’ Crawford told her sister on the phone. Crawford ran downstairs, where 30 people were in attendance for a New Year’s Eve party. Needless to say, she was screaming in excitement at the time. “I was flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe that I won,’’ Crawford said on learning about her millionaire status just before the stroke of midnight New Year’s Eve. And with the holiday, Crawford had to wait until the Georgia Lottery’s office was open. It opened Jan. 3, and Crawford was the first of the Holiday Millionaire Raffle winners to claim her prize. Crawford plans to use the funds to pay off her small business, a party supply store. She also plans to invest, give some money to family members, and take several short vacations around the Southeast over the next few weeks. Crawford is also a real estate agent who enjoys playing tennis in a women’s league and co-ed softball in Buford. She graduated from Parkview High School. “I have two dogs that are my life,’’ Crawford added. “I’m defi nitely an animal person.’’ Holiday Millionaire Raffle was a limited-time game that gave Georgia Lottery players their best odds ever to win $1 million, according to the Georgia Lottery. The game offered four $ 1 million prizes, four $100,000 prizes, 20 $10,000 prizes and 1,000 $500 prizes. Local Teen's New Song Hits Billboard Chart BRASELTON - Teen singing sensation Tiffany Milagro recent ly charted on Billboard maga zine’s Hot 100 Singles sales chart with her song, “There’s No City as Pretty as Savannah.’’ The teen’s latest hit debuted at number 19 on the chart this past November. In 2006, Milagro charted with her first hit single “Why Can’t It Just Be Christmas.’’ That single debuted at number 12. Milagro’s latest single is cur rently in its fourth week on the charts. All together, Milagro has enjoyed 11 weeks on Billboard and is hoping for more hits. “I didn’t even expect to get one on, but, now that two are on, it’s really, really great,’’ Milagro said. The past few months have been busy for Milagro. In addition to releasing a new single, Milagro has performed at numerous charity events, sang the national anthem at a Braves game and performed at the Peach Drop on New Year’s Eve. Milagro said she has enjoyed all the events, particularly the Peach Drop. “[The Peach Drop] was so much fun,’’ she said. “It was really excit ing as the traffic was building up throughout the day. It was pretty exciting to be invited to sing.’’ Milagro has no plans to slow down in 2008. This year, Milagro will be graduating from Mill Creek High School, working on a concert tour and recording a new album. She also plans to enroll in college, but said she may spend the first few months after graduation focusing on her music career. Milagro said a college educa tion is important to her, but she hopes to make a career out of singing. “Music is my main thing.. I really can’t see myself doing any thing else,’’ she said. Milagro has several goals for her musical career, including singing at the Grammys. She said she would like to be “one of the greats,’’ but her main goal is to continue her charity work. For the past several years, Milagro has helped raise money for numerous causes by perform ing at charity events. She said music stars such as Patti LaBelle, who Milagro recently met, can raise thousands of dollars with just a short performance. “I would like to be able to make that much of an impact,’’ she said. Milagro’s father and manager, Fred Piedrahita, said Tiffany’s music is well suited for use by charitable organizations because of its upbeat nature. “All of her music is very posi tively oriented,’’ Piedrahita said. Piedrahita said Milagro’s song, “Whatever Makes Your Soul Sing,’’ is currently featured on an American Cancer Society DVD. Talks are currently under way with Diamond in the Rough, a faith-based, youth leadership program, to use Milagro’s single “Diamond in the Rough’’ as a theme song. Milagro said helping others is important to her and that she feels privileged to work with so many different charitable orga nizations. Although her career is in its early stages, Milagro has already experienced success of which many artists only dream. Milagro said she is enjoying every min ute. 22 Percent Get Lood Stamps In Madison Co. DANIELSVILLE - One sta tistic on the Madison County Department of Family and Children’s services year-end report caused a few double-takes from DFCS board members when they saw it Friday: 22 per cent of the county’s population received food stamps at some point 2007. “That’s an eye-opener,’’ chair man Gary Locke said. The high percentage was par ticularly noteworthy since the requirements for food stamps weren’t lowered in 2007. Eligibility for the program is based on income and household size. The report also showed that Madison County served a month ly average of 2,489 recipients with a total amount of $2,683,987 worth of food stamps being issued in 2007. As for the rest of the report, there were also promising stats. The department’s child abuse and neglect reports dropped from 470 to 434 in 2007 over 2006. Furthermore, DFCS direc tor Lisa Plank noted that 50 per cent of these cases were success fully handled as “diversions’’ and were never classified as cases of neglect. “Diversion’’ is a new tactic the department is using to provide help before the situation esca lates to abusive levels. “So we’re handling over half of what we get in that way,’’ Plank said. The board also learned that three children had been adopted since May and that 75 more were placed in care with relatives. The department has increased its use of relative care as an alternative to foster care. It’s also an option for a permanent placement plan if children can’t return to their parents. SMITH HONORED Long-time DFCS board mem ber Mary Smith was honored with a plaque recognizing 25 years of service Friday in con junction with the unveiling of a refurbished visitation room for children at the department office. The plaque will hang in the room. “We appreciate you, Mary,’’ Locke told Smith. The improvements to the visita tion room were coordinated by the Union Baptist Church youth group. The walls were repainted while a mural was added to one of the walls. Brenda Chandler, of Union Baptist, attended Friday’s ceremony. The visitation room still needs more amenities, which Smith, who attends Union Baptist, will attain through church donations. The DFCS board also voted to spend $ 150 to add security cam eras to the room. Senior Citizens' Center Named Lor Lormer Director DANIELSVILLE - The Madison County Senior Center will now be called the Eloise McCurley Senior Center. County commissioners unani mously agreed Monday to rename the center after McCurley, the long-time senior center director who died from injuries sustained in a December car accident. County commissioner Stanley Thomas proposed the name change. “She (McCurley) was commit ted to the seniors of our county,’’ said Thomas. “She gave them hope, help and encouraged them to enjoy life to its fullest in their later years. She ran a first-class operation.’’ Thomas said he didn’t want McCurley’s service to the county to be forgotten. “I don’t want her committment to the center and the citizens of this county to be forgotten,’’ said Thomas. “In time, people will forget how the senior center got started and who was involved in it. And I’m asking this board to rename the senior center the Eloise McCurley Senior Center.’’ Jefferson Gets Through 2007 Without Borrowing The City of Jefferson ended 2007 without having to borrow any money, which is an improve ment over 2006 when the city council had an emergency meet ing to borrow more than $1 mil lion to finish out the year. “That is a very big accomplish ment,’’ finance director Amie Vaughan reported at the city council meeting Monday night. “We accomplished a lot this year. Going forward now into 2008, we have to continue with our awareness and strive to find cost saving measures.’’ The city did use $21,800 of 2008 tax funds in 2007, but Vaughan said after all the adjust ments are posted, she believes the city will be in the black rather than the red. Long-time councilman C.D. Kidd said he had seen the coun cil borrow funds many times dur ing his more than three decades in office. “This wasn’t unusual,’’ he said. “I’ve seen the city borrow money before. It wasn’t anything new, but the amount was. But we didn’t have then what we have now (as far as services).’’ Vaughan presented a break down of the expenses for each department, which showed the recreation department was the only one to go over budget in 2007. The city had budgeted $983,034 for parks and recre ation, but $1,061 million was spent. All other city departments were under budget for the year. 'Radio Jefferson' Up Lor Sale Jefferson is trying to sell its low- power radio station after ad sales have not been what recreation director Ben Dillard promised when he presented the proposal to the city council last spring. Dillard suggested at Monday night’s city council meeting that the radio station be sold. He also blamed the lack of success of the city-operated station on negative coverage in The Jackson Herald. “The negative publicity in the local newspaper has made it impossible to sell ads because businesses do not want their names to be published along with these demeaning articles,’’ Dillard said. “We’ve had plenty of sup port, but the negative angle hurts tremendously.’’ From July through December, Radio Jefferson only generated $9,190 in income, but had expens es of $151,400. In December, the station had no income and expenses of $6,050. “We started Radio Jefferson to provide a valuable commu nity service and to raise money for the recreation department,’’ Dillard said. “After six months of broadcasting, we have not been able to generate enough ad sales to create a profit. Any business takes time and this idea is still a great one for the community. But because of the circumstances ... I’ve talked with (city manager) John (Ward) about implement ing an exit strategy. I don’t want the station to continue to be a distraction as it has for the past six months.’’ Enviro-Grind A — Mulching Service "^Br* l Have Underbrush & Hedge Taken Over? ENVIRO-GRIND Can Make Your Property Have A More Park-Like Appearance. 706-680-0346 www.enviro-grind.com • Mitchell Owensby W & W METAL ROOFING 30 Year ^ Paint 4 “We Got You Covered” Residential • Commercial • Agricultural • Ship Anywhere In The USA • We Stock Your Metal Needs • Visit Our Showroom www.wwmetalroofmg.com nma 706-654-5836 Hwy. 60 / Candler Hwy. • Pendergrass, Ga. Warranty Sales Service Installation of Commerce $ 5 00 OFF Ticket Of s 20°° Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only. La Hacienda Commerce 173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd. 706-335-7458 La Hacienda Jefferson 605 Athens Street 706-367-5095 The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant. Fareha Rahim, MD Internal Medicine We are now located at our new office at 613 Hospital Road Commerce, Georgia 30529 Commerce Medical Center 1 706-335-9411 ^CR^CDHIC/BS^IGN^HMO/PPO^MERIGROU^ARF^H^J CJj! CiiAoin S'iofje^Jrjc? ^ Residential & Commercial P| INDOOR & OUTDOOR FIREPLACES FOUNDATIONS* WALKWAYS FREE ESTIMATES • LICENSED & INSURED pi—I noepenoentlvi Owrie'dR KM I ^OperatedlL-i bA: J 6/78 I8J5192 1896j •/ s COMMERCE FIRE DEPT. TO BEGIN NEW TRAINING CLASS FEB. 21 The Commerce Fire Department will begin a new Training Class on Thursday, February 21, 2008. Interested parties should pick up an application form at City Hall and return it before cut-off date of January 31, 2008. Training class will last approximately one year and at that time there will be a LIMITED number of positions filled in the department. Completion of training does NOT GUARANTEE placement on the department. All applications may not be accepted. Those interested must meet the following requirements: • Willing to spend a minimum of 120 hours training per year • Be able and available to attend at least 50% of all fire calls • Must be 18 years of age or older • High School graduate or equivalent • Complete Module I Firefighters Course with passing grade • Be able to pass rigorous physical fitness activities • Be willing to serve the community protecting lives and property • Be a “team player” and work well with the CFD family. COMMERCE FIRE DEPT. IS A VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENT Have Your Federal income Tax Return Prepared’- 1 In This Office And You Could Become The Proud Owner of a 2008 Toyota Camry Hybrid PLUS • We ll make a 2008 estimated tax payment for you to cover the taxes 3 • Prepare your 2008 Income taxes for free 1816 N. Broad Street Commerce. 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